Shielding elements are used in electric and/or electronic circuits to screen specific components of the circuit against an electromagnetic radiation, in particular against spurious emission or irradiation. In particular, screening or shielding elements are used to comply with the requirements of EMC (electro magnetic compatibility) standards.
Usually such shielding elements comprises an annular side wall that can be mounted on a printed circuit board in a usual way, e.g. by soldering, and that surrounds the components to be shielded. After mounting the annular side wall and the components to be shielded onto the printed circuit board, a cover is used to close a ceiling opening that is defined by the upper edge of the annular side wall. A bottom opening that is defined by the lower edge of the side wall is closed by the printed circuit board. The terms “upper” and “lower” are used in this description to define the location of parts of the shielding element relative to the printed circuit board irrespective of the orientation of the printed circuit board itself. Hence, the upper edge of the side wall is that edge that is in a remode position whereas the lower edge is that edge that is in contact with the printed circuit board after mounting.
As described above, mounting of a conventional shielding element onto a printed circuit board needs two mounting steps: First, mounting the side wall to the printed circuit bar and second, fixing the cover to the side wall.